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Key Activities and Innovations
The community of Abrha Weatsbha carries out a number of
overlapping and complementary activities in the areas of communitybased
adaptation, food security, eco-agriculture, sustainable forest
management, sustainable land management, and water resource
management.
Improved water management
Northern Ethiopia typically experiences unreliable rainfall. These
patterns have only intensified with climate change, resulting in
prolonged droughts, late rains, shorter rainy seasons, and extended
dry spells during the growing season. This poses acute challenges
for a population that is dependent on agriculture for subsistence,
food security and livelihoods. Abrha Weatsbha has responded with
interventions to improve the water-holding capacity of the soil by
recharging groundwater and digging shallow wells to provide for
supplementary irrigation.
Changing local agricultural practices
Abrha Weatsbha Natural Resource Management Initiative also
engages local farmers to improve environmental sustainability, crop
yields and agricultural productivity. This has been an exercise in
behaviour change, as some traditional agricultural practices – many
in use due to the need for quick, low-cost returns – have produced
negative impacts on the local environment. The group promotes
Improvements to the integrity and content of soil have led to
subsequent improvements in water-holding capacity. Tree planting,
ecosystem restoration activities, and the use of manure for compost
and organic fertilizers have not only improved the integrity of the soil
and land, but improved water security by facilitating groundwater
recharge, or what community members refer to as “the water bank in
the soil”. This reserve of water has increased community resilience to
droughts. Improvements in soil quality have translated to increased
absorption of water into the soil, which has also reduced incidence
of flooding.
The community also constructs small dams, creates water catchment
ponds, and builds trenches and bunds to restore groundwater
functioning. This has resulted in greater flexibility with irrigation,
making year-round agricultural production possible and allowing
local farmers to grow fruits and vegetables that were previously
untenable during the dry season.
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